Concrete form panel having access openings

ABSTRACT

Concrete form panels having a plurality of openings in the exterior flange and crossing interior ribs that provide access from an opening in the exterior flange to any interior section between the ribs. Wires, plumbing, and the like are run through the openings to reach any desired area of the back side of the panel while remaining wholly inside the confines of the form panel, thus reducing the likelihood of the wires or plumbing interfering with workers and equipment in the area behind the form panel. In combination with a backside cover, the openings create a plenum through which a fluid, such as heated or cooled air, is passed over the form to assist in the control of the temperature of concrete curing adjacent the form panel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The invention relates generally to concrete form panels and, more specifically, to a concrete form panel which has a plurality of openings in its exterior flange and interior ribs to provide access through any opening in the flange to any interior area between the ribs.

[0003] 2. Background of the Prior Art

[0004] Concrete forming apparatus is in wide use in the construction of buildings, bridges, and other concrete structures. A common system for forming concrete structures uses a plurality of modular form components that are adapted to be assembled into a wide variety of configurations to conform to virtually any architectural requirement. Such forming apparatus components are typically made of metal so that they are strong enough to support the heavy weight of poured concrete and durable so that the components can be reused many times.

[0005] One of the most commonly used configurations of such metal form components is a flat panel that is used in forming substantially flat concrete surfaces, such as walls, foundations, pillars, and the like. Such metal concrete form panels have a face sheet which is in contact with the concrete being poured. A rearwardly extended flange is secured around the perimeter of the face sheet. A grid of transverse and longitudinal spaced apart ribs are tied to the opposing sections of the perimeter flange.

[0006] It is a common practice to run electrical wiring and plumbing fixtures to areas on the back side of the form panel for purposes such as operating equipment, for example vibrators that assist in setting of the concrete, and for heating or cooling of the concrete being formed against the form panel. With conventional form panels, the wiring and pipes are run outside the confines of the form panel. Given the level of activity by both men and machines typical in a construction site, it is not unusual for the wiring and pipes to be snagged and damaged due to their exposed positions.

[0007] If the temperature is too cold, the water in fresh concrete can freeze before it has been consumed during the curing process. If this happens, the water tied up in the ice crystals is not available for curing of the concrete and will also form pockets of water in the cured concrete, both of which will adversely affect the strength of the cured concrete. Accordingly, unless some method can be found for either sufficiently insulating the concrete form assembly so that the heat of hydration in the curing concrete will marinating the temperature high enough to prevent the damage due to ice crystal formation, or heating the concrete form assembly and/or the curing concrete, pouring of concrete must be delayed.

[0008] There is a need for metal concrete form panels that provide access to interior sections of the panel from the outside perimeter so that wiring, plumbing, and the like can be run to interior sections without passing outside the confines of the form panel.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The invention consists of a concrete form panel comprising a face sheet to the back of which are attached at least two spaced apart transverse ribs and at least two spaced apart longitudinal ribs. A rearwardly extended flange extends around the perimeter of the face sheet, consisting of a pair of opposing end rails and a pair of opposing side rails. The longitudinal ribs extend between the opposing end rails and the transverse ribs extend between the opposing side rails. The flange and ribs have a plurality of openings that are arranged so that access to any interior area between ribs can be gained from the exterior of the flange through any of the openings in the flange. Conduits such as wires, plumbing lines, and the like, are traced through the openings to any desired location and are thereby contained completely within the confines of the form panel and so are protected against contact or snagging by activity exterior of the form panel.

[0010] In an alternative embodiment, a cover is positioned overlying the back side of the form panel. By selectively blocking openings in the flange and interior ribs, a plenum is created through which fluid can flow. In a specific application, if all of the openings in the flange are blocked except for one or more inlet openings on a near side of the form panel and one or more outlet openings on a far side of the form panel, heated air introduced to the inlet opening will pass over the back side of the face sheet and out through the outlet openings and will thereby prevent ice crystals from forming in the curing concrete.

[0011] An object of the present invention is to provide a concrete form panel that has a plurality of openings to provide access to interior sections of the form panel.

[0012] Another object of the invention is to provide a concrete form panel having openings in its perimeter flange and interior ribs trough which conduits are passed to provide electricity, water, hydraulic fluid, and the like to interior sections between the ribs without having to run the conduits outside the confines of the form panel.

[0013] These and other objects of the invention will be made apparent to those skilled in the art upon a review and understanding of this specification, the associated drawings, and the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a concrete form panel of the present invention.

[0015]FIG. 2 is an elevational view of an assembly of concrete form panels showing a network of wires and plumbing lines running through the openings in the form panels.

[0016]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a form panel of the present invention with a cover over the back side of the form panel with parts broken away to illustrate the use of the cover to create a plenum.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0017] Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated in FIG. 1, generally at 10, a metal concrete form panel of the present invention. The form panel includes a face sheet 12 on its front surface and a rearwardly extended flange 14 that extends around the perimeter of the face sheet, including a pair of opposing end rails 16 a and 16 b and a pair of opposing side rails 18 a and 18 b. The flange 14 is secured to the face sheet 12 by weldments or the like.

[0018] In the preferred embodiment, a pair of transverse ribs 20 a and 20 b extend between the side rails 18 a and 18 b and are secured by weldments or the like to the back side of the face sheet 12. A plurality of longitudinal ribs 22 are arranged on the back side of the face sheet 12, extended between the end rails 16 a and 16 b. In the preferred embodiment, each of the longitudinal ribs 22 includes a central, longitudinal rib section 24 and a pair of longitudinal rib end sections 26 a and 26 b. The sections 24, 26 a and 26 b are secured to the back side of the face sheet 12 by weldments or the like.

[0019] The form panels 10 are held in a spaced apart relation to other concrete form components to create a space in which the fresh concrete is poured to form the section of concrete. For example, in forming a wall section, a pair of the form panels 10 will be positioned with their face sheets facing each other and separated by the desired thickness of the wall being formed.

[0020] The end rails 16 and the side rails 18 of the perimeter flange 14 are perforated by a plurality of spaced apart openings 28. Similarly, the transverse ribs 20 and the longitudinal ribs 22 are perforated by a plurality of spaced apart openings 30 and 32, respectively. In the preferred embodiment, the openings 28, 30 and 32 are of a size to permit hand access by a worker through the openings 28, 30 and 32 for ease in working with the form panels 10 and associated accessory parts. The preferred embodiment also has the number and position of the openings in the ribs corresponding with the number and position of the openings in the perimeter flange 14. For some applications, it will be desired to block or close some of the openings and it would be expected that the form panels could be made with more or fewer openings, with openings in other positions or arrangements, and with openings of different and diverse sizes.

[0021] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the openings provide a convenient access to the interior sections of the form panel 10 for conduits, such as electrical wires, plumbing pipes, hydraulic hoses, and the like. A network of such conduits is illustrated generally at 34. The arrangement of openings permits the network of conduits 34 to enter the confines of the form panel 10 from any opening 28 in the perimeter flange 14 and, by passing through one or more of the openings 30 and 32 of the ribs 20 and 22, run to any interior section of the form panel 10 without ever passing outside the confines of the form panel 10.

[0022] A plenum for conducting a pressurized fluid over the back side of the face sheet is created by placing a cover 36 over the back side of the form panel 10, as illustrated in FIG. 3. One or more openings 28 located on one side of the perimeter flange 14 are selected as inlet openings and one or more openings 28′ are selected on the perimeter flange 14 at a far side of the form panel 10. By using plugs 38 to block the remaining openings in the flange 14, pressurized fluid, such as heated air, introduced at the inlet openings 28 will be conducted over the back side of the face sheet 12 through the openings 30 and 32 in the ribs 20 and 22 and out the outlet openings 28′. One or more of the openings 30 and 32 could also be blocked by plugs if it was desired to further constrain the pattern of the flow of the fluid through the form panel 10. greater resistance to deflection or pillowing than conventional form panels.

[0023] Although the invention has been described with respect to a preferred embodiment thereof, it is to be also understood that it is not to be so limited since changes and modifications can be made therein which are within the full intended scope of this invention as defined by the appended claims. 

I claim:
 1. A concrete form panel, comprising: (a) a face sheet; (b) a flange extended rearwardly of the face sheet around the perimeter of the face sheet, comprising a pair of opposing side rails having a plurality of spaced apart openings and a pair of opposing end rails having a plurality of spaced apart openings; (c) a grid, comprising a plurality of transverse ribs in contact with the face sheet and extended between the pair of opposing side rails of the flange, the transverse ribs having a plurality of spaced apart openings, and a plurality of longitudinal ribs in contact with the face sheet and extended between the pair of opposing end rails of the flange, the longitudinal ribs having a plurality of spaced apart openings; and (d) the openings are positioned to provide access to all areas interior of the grid from any opening in the flange.
 2. A concrete form panel as defined in claim 1 wherein said face sheet is rectangular.
 3. A concrete form panel as defined in claim 2 wherein said face sheet is square.
 4. A concrete form panel as defined in claim 1 wherein the number and location of the openings in the side rails corresponds to the number and location of the openings in the longitudinal ribs.
 5. A concrete form panel as defined in claim 1 wherein the number and location of the openings in the end rails corresponds to the number and location of the openings in the transverse ribs.
 6. A concrete form panel as defined in claim 1 wherein the openings are of a size to permit hand access through the openings.
 7. A concrete panel as defined in claim 1, further comprising a cover substantially parallel to and spaced apart from the face sheet and overlying the ribs, and plugs for all but two of the openings in the flange to create a plenum through which the first of the remaining openings is in fluid communication with the second of the remaining openings.
 8. A concrete panel as defined in claim 7, wherein the first remaining opening is in a first side rail and the second remaining opening is in the opposite side rail, and further comprising plugs for all but one opening in each of the longitudinal ribs.
 9. A concrete panel as defined in claim 7, wherein the first remaining opening is in a first end rail and the second remaining opening is in the opposite end rail, and further comprising plugs for all but one opening in each of the transverse ribs 